One of Us Is Gonna Die Young
by The Sani
Summary: The rescue of Orihime does not turn out the way anyone expected. Character death and probably pairings later on. Rating might rise.
1. Chapter 1

**Alright! The first fan fic in a long, looong time! Ehm, not really, but I don't think I'll post the others I've been writing because they're simply…odd. This one however has gotten the chance to reach . And those reading "Alones", don't worry, I will continue!  
**

**This story occurs after chapter 308, and follows another storyline than the one in the manga. **

**Dunno if rating's gonna raise, you'll just have to wait and see **

**Disclaimer: Bleach belongs to Kubo Tite (and he does a brilliant job!) **

**Warnings: Ehm, character death? Well, in a way, at least. ****Confused? That's great.**

* * *

"Inoue!" His voice barely reached her. Why was that so? He was screaming just by her side, right?

The thoughts running in Inoue Orihime's mind were clouded and mixed up. She lied on the ground…bleeding? Her dark eyes watched the red fluid on her hand with surprise. When had she…? Oh, well, she would heal herself once the others had gotten treatment from her. She would just rest a few seconds…just rest. After that nothing could stop her from jumping up with determination written on her forehead and help the others to win this battle.

They counted on her, didn't they? They had saved her. Ichigo, Rukia, Chad, Uryuu and Renji. They had risked their lives.

"Inoue…Orihime! Stay with me!"

Orihime smiled awkwardly inwards; _"Kurosaki-kun, you don't need to have that scary look…"_ Of course she would stay with him. She would stay with him all the time until they reached the real world, their world, and then she would proceed home and search for some new delicious, at least in her eyes, recipes and…

Complete darkness. And a heavy burden in her chest.

"INOUE!"

* * *

"Inoue?"

Orihime gasped and with a startled face she looked back to face Kuchiki Rukia. The raven-haired Shinigami smiled regretfully when she watched her friend who wore a pale blue kimono. They were standing in front of the Senkaimon, a place the commonly clumsy girl visited ever so often to simply stare at the gate.

"Kuchiki-san…" Orihime tried her best to return the smile more cheerfully than the other. "I-I was just…"

"I know", Rukia cut off and placed a hand on Orihime's shoulder. "I know that you want to return. But you can't…not yet."

The ginger-haired girl seemed as she was going to object but then she changed her mind and looked down into the ground. "It's just that…it has already been a month since _that_ day." She raised her head and looked pleadingly at Rukia. "Please take me with you to the living world! My powers are still intact! There must be _something_ I can do! Aizen has not been taken care of yet, and that's because of me. If you had not tried to save me perhaps he would've been…"'

"Inoue, _stop_!" Rukia did not mean to sound that harsh as she saw how Orihime was taken aback. She sighed deeply and began to move towards the Senkaimon. "I'm truly sorry Inoue, but Ichigo can still not handle this. Since your…" She paused and fought the tears for a moment. "Since your death, he has not been the same. Give him some time and when he is ready, _he_ will come to _you_. That's a promise; otherwise I'll definitely kick him and his butt flying."

"Kurosaki-kun…" But there was no more time for talk; the Senkaimon had opened and the countdown for Rukia to pass through the gate had begun. Orihime wiped away a tear that had escaped her eye. "Please tell Kurosaki-kun I'm fine."

"Aa", nodded Rukia and offered her a kind smile. "See you soon, Inoue." And then she was gone.

Orihime hugged herself as she stared into the gate. She had probably done that everyday since she had arrived in Soul Society that day… the day she died.

The teenage girl had not been aware of her grave condition until she had felt the heavy chest; a feeling that was etched in her mind. But not even when she had seen her own body she had realized that the chain already was cut. Not even Ichigo desperately holding her limp body, Rukia crying her eyes dry, Uryuu screaming until being unable to continue, Chad drumming his fists into the ground ignoring his own blood or Renji walking back and forth unable to express his feelings yet too upset to really hide them…none of this had been a tip off for her.

Orihime had not understood…did not _want _to understand. It had happened so fast; they had still been in Hueco Mundo when some captains had arrived from the Gotei Juusantai and the counterattack had begun.

But something had gone wrong. As Orihime was treating Ichigo's wounds and Zaraki Kenpachi gleefully fought Nnoitra Kuchiki Byakuya, his adoptive-sister and Yamada Hanatarou had showed up. The rokubantai taichou had a grave look in his face as he told them to retreat immediately; Aizen had decided that protecting his castle was of foremost importance and since the Shinigami's order was only to assist Ichigo and his group in the retrieval of Orihime they withdrew and managed to get back into the grand cellar of Urahara Kisuke.

Everything would have been settled, if it had not been for the fact that in the middle of the run a cero was launched and its goal was Ichigo – but it missed. Instead Orihime had been hit.

The result was a night in silence at Urahara Shouten.

Rukia had been the one to perform a konsoh on her after convincing her that she was dead; Rukia did not want to send her away without knowing why, even though somewhere she understood.

Ichigo had run away as soon as he understood that she could not be saved.

The next thing Orihime knew she was somewhere in Rukongai. It did not take long for her to shatter into pieces and for a few days she stayed with a small family who kindly took care of her until words reached her that Rukia was back in Soul Society searching for her. About a week later they found each other and the small Shinigami took her to Seireitei.

And here she was.

"Inoue! Inoueee!" Someone calling her name and the next second this someone was holding a hard grip around her waist, almost lifting her from the ground, but definitely squeezing her to death.

"Eeh?!" The girl hastily looked back and stared right into Matsumoto Rangiku's happy face and was pushed even more into the enormous bust. She was seriously starting to fear that she would suffocate. "Rangiku-san!"

"Orihime, how come I just recently got to hear that you had arrived, and not earlier?" scolded the older woman and put the girl down. The Vice-Captain pouted with her lips and crossed her arms while waiting for an answer.

"Ah, forgive me, Rangiku-san. It seems I forgot…" Orihime wondered if Rangiku knew that she was not there on a visit, but actually was a part of Soul Society now. A light but sad laughter escaped her before she rapidly had to duck since the big-busted woman raised a fist to hit her. But all there came was a flick on her head.

"Silly girl. Where do you live?" Rangiku watched her with caringly blue eyes.

"_Of course she knows"_, Orihime thought, and was somewhat relieved. That meant she probably would not have to explain.

Rangiku continued and eyed her. "I'm sure that wherever you live right now isn't very good!"

The girl laughed again, this time a bit embarrassed. It was true it had been… awkward now and again at the place she currently lived. "Eh, I've been in the Kuchiki Estate thanks to Kuchiki-san…" Rangiku suddenly grabbed her arm and began dragging her away, as if knowing about every time Orihime accidentally bumped into the stone faced Kuchiki Byakuya.

"See! That can't be healthy! Living in the same house as that cold-and-scary-though-he-has-the-looks Captain? From now, you're living with me!"

Orihime was not sure it would be safer living with the woman. "Ah, but Rangiku-san…!" She was received a happy smile.

"No buts! It's your turn to live with me now! And besides, I'd be glad if you did. It gets lonely sometimes!"

"Well, if you put it that way then…" smiled the girl, finally giving up. In fact, she was more than delighted that Rangiku had shown up. They understood each other somewhat and Orihime had from time to time secretly imagined Rangiku being an elder sister to her while the Shinigami and her Captain lived in her small apartment. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it! Come on now; let's find something fun to do before we tell Captain Kuchiki that I'm stealing you!"

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**Ehm, yeah. Please tell me what you think! :D I love each and every time I read your reviews!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Everything seems to be going wrong today! Hopefully this chapter won't argue with me anymore!**

**Remind me to never publish anything in the middle of the night while having a fever There's always something that's wrong. Well well, forget it. It's time for a new chapter!**

**Ah, and from now on I'm bringing the (please don't kill me please don't kill me please don't kill me) fillers into the story, but I'm doing some changes to match it better with the fic and I hope it won't be annoying. I just happen to like the drunken fluff captain Even though I know what's happened in the anime TT**

**This is the first time I'm writing about Orihime, but thought I would give it a shot.**

* * *

"Finally! Good morning, sunshine!" beamed Rangiku when Orihime walked into the small kitchen area. "What a bed head!"

"Eh? Oh!" Orihime was given a brush and immediately fixed the wild hair before fastening the usual clips. "I suppose I'm not very still when I sleep."

"I'll tell you!" laughed the woman. "You're wild in your sleep. At some point I thought you were literally gonna fly out of bed."

"Sorry!" Orihime scratched her neck and sat down at the table where several dishes waited to be consumed. Some of them she recognized from her own recipes.

"I thought you'd like something you feel comfortable with. Now eat!" commanded Rangiku and took a spoonful of a soup with ingredients most other people would have found suspicious. "Besides, since I was in the real world I've often cooked stuff like these! But you better hurry or we'll be late!"

Orihime watched her curiously. "Late?"

"Why yes! Captain hates me being late and you're coming with me! There's no way I'm leaving you alone all day!"

"Thank you, Rangiku-san", smiled the teenage girl and prepared herself to fill the stomach.

* * *

"MATSUMOTO!" The echo of the furious person could not be mistaken; it was definitely Hitsugaya Toushirou letting his wrath come out.

"Yes, Captain!" Rangiku hurried inside the office. "I'm so sorry I'm late! And I know I shouldn't have stopped in the hallway to chit-chat, I mean… err, talk with everyone I met."

"Hmph…just begin wor…" The genius boy quietened and with piercing eyes he looked up from the desk. "Why are you hiding Inoue Orihime behind your back?"

"Ah!" Rangiku began laughing uneasily. "I thought that she could help me today!"

Orihime peered up from behind the woman. "Forgive me, Toushirou-kun! But, please, may I stay with Rangiku-san?" She bowed deeply before the small captain. "I'll do all I can to make myself useful!"

Hitsugaya sighed deeply. "It's Captain…ah, no use. Well, if you can get _her_ to work, then I guess it's alright." He turned to his subordinate again. "Matsumoto, there's a meeting about the new captain this afternoon that I'll have to attend, so I take for granted that you will handle the squad during that time?"

"Of course, Captain! You don't need to worry!" Rangiku happily grabbed Orihime's shoulders and began pulling her out of the room.

"I wonder…" muttered Hitsugaya, but both women were already gone.

At a fast pace they more or less ran through the corridor, or rather, Rangiku ran while dragging Orihime after her. "Hurry, hurry!" The red blonde woman chanted.

"B-but you were supposed to work, Rangiku-san!" tried Orihime, but she really knew it was too late to stop her.

"That can wait! Now, time to find Kira, I'm so curious about who this new captain-person is!" giggled Rangiku as her squad members had to jump out of her way when she headed for the exit.

"New captain?" Orihime's face was just like a question mark when she followed her friend out into the sun.

"Yeah, the Third Division's gonna get a new captain today! Exciting, isn't? At first I thought it was Kira who had made it, but then again, when could he have achieved bankai." Rangiku kept smiling as they now, in a calm pace, strolled down the streets of Seireitei. "But it's really good that there's a new captain. It means there are only two more spots to fill."

"So this new captain is taking, eh, his place?" While Rangiku had lived at Orihime's place she had every now and then got a sad face, and one evening the girl had finally got the Vice-Captain to tell her what was bothering her. Orihime could not imagine the pain of discovering that the person you cherish is a traitor.

"Ah…" The woman stopped smiling for a moment, but it then returned to her lips. "But I try to not think about it too much. I'm glad for Kira, and this new person isn't like him. Like Gin. And I will definitely kick his sorry aft when I see him, so if you think he has funny eyes now, just wait until then."

Orihime laughed a little and carefully watched the woman. In her eyes, the feminine Rangiku was so very strong and determined. Orihime wanted to be like that too. She took a deep breath. "And I will!"

"Huh?" Rangiku stared at her. "You want to kick his butt as well?!"

"Ah, no! I don't mean that! I just talk out loud!"

"Eh? What are you thinking of girl?"

"How loud the two of you are", sighed someone behind them, causing them both to jump high. They turned around and saw Hisagi Shuuhei. Orihime hurried to correct her blue kimono that had moved a bit when he scared them and Rangiku was not late to scold him.

"Shuuhei! You just can't sneak up and scare girls like that! Our breasts almost fell out!" Both the man and Orihime blushed wildly; Orihime because it had almost happened and Shuuhei because he probably would not have minded seeing it happen.

"Rangiku-san, he really didn't…!"

"Sorry." Shuuhei cleared his throat and looked curiously at them. "Well, what are you up to?"

"Visiting Kira", smiled Rangiku. "Care to join? Maybe we should get some sake to celebrate! I'll make Kira and Orihime drink until they can't stand!"

"But I'm undera—" The woman's hand muted Orihime's mouth.

"You're dead, it doesn't matter!" laughed Rangiku evilly and dragged away with the girl and her new victim Shuuhei.

* * *

"M-Matsumoto? Hisagi-san?! Inoue?!" The blonde Kira Izuru stared at the three in disbelief. The brunette man was lying almost dead on the floor and a clearly under-the-influence Rangiku tried her best to sip some drops into Orihime's shut mouth.

"There you are, Kira!" A happy Rangiku dropped Orihime to the floor. "We've been waiting forever for you! Where've you been?"

"Introducing the new superior, Captain Amagai, to the squad", he blinked confusedly. "Didn't you know we were going to have a new captain today?"

"But that's this afternoon! We came to celebrate before the meeting!" Rangiku continued to giggle and helped a scared Orihime up from the floor. "What are you doing down there girl? Up with you!"

"Matsumoto-san, the meeting was two hours ago." Kira stared even more at them and shook his head. "How long have you been here?!"

"W-what?" Rangiku seemed to abruptly sober up. "But I was supposed to be in charge of the division while the Captain was away on the meeting!"

"Oopsch", they heard from the floor and saw Shuuhei trying to crawl up. They could all imagine the short Hitsugaya's fury.

"Maybe we should head back," began Orihime but was once again interrupted by the woman.

"Oh, well, it could've been worse! Bottoms up!" The sake rapidly found Orihime's mouth and was forced down. "We'll celebrate now then! Kira, take as much as you want! And Orihime, don't make that face! Be happy, you've been drinking alcohol for the first time! That's something we need to celebrate as well!"

"INOUE!" They all jumped and stared at the half-dead man. "Don't…" Shuuhei had his face down onto the floor, but managed to raise a hand. "Don't letch her drink ya'self…under the table…you'll have a tellible hangober….tomorrow." And then he was fast asleep.

Rangiku continued to try to press the liquor down Orihime's throat while Kira ran around making remarks that he would absolutely not disappoint his new captain, because if he did he would blame Abarai Renji and tell Mr Captain that it was the all read-heads fault. Whatever it could be. Orihime smiled groggily. Even though she still felt a little lost in their company, she enjoyed it.

"Kira, are you in there?" A deep man's voice was heard and they gasped when the door was opened.

The blonde fell to his knees and cried wildly: "Aah, Schaptain Amagai Schuuschuschukeschu…you have too many 'Sch's! It'sch all Renji'sch fault! He did it! HE DID IT!"

"…eh?" A man with ruffled dark hair and a little shaggy face hesitantly stepped into the room and looked at the two females. "What is he blabbering about?"

"Oh! The new captain!" Rangiku hurried to rise and bow and as a miracle she did not flip over when doing so. "I'm Matsumoto Rangiku", she said giggling. "The Vice-Captain of the Tenth Division. And this is my very good but now very dead friend, Inoue Orihime."

Orihime rose, but fell to her butt. "S-sorry!" Suddenly there was a hand before her which helped her up.

"Aren't you a bit too you to drink?" The man watched her worriedly with his dark eyes.

"Thank you, Sir", she managed to spill over her lips while trying to keep her eyes focused on him. "I-it's my first time drinking, Sir!"

"Then I better get you home", sighed Amagai with a tired smile. "Where do you live, Inoue, was it?" The girl pointed at Rangiku, who seemed to have fun poking Shuuhei on the head.

"I cur…currently live with her."

The Captain nodded and lifted the girl into his arms before going out into the corridor there he stopped one of his subordinates. "Would you mind carrying the Tenth Vice-Captain? We'll take these two to her quarters."

"Of course, Sir!" The man hurried inside but then popped out his head. "What about Vice-Captain Kira and Vice-Captain Hisagi?"

"Find a way to make them sober up, now, let's go." Amagai sighed with a smile and Orihime looked up at him.

"_So this is the new captain they talked about"_, she thought tiredly and a yawn escaped her. He glanced down at her while they walked in lukewarm evening.

"You seem to get along better with the sake than I do, Inoue." Another smile on his lips.

* * *

**There you go. And I've been writing with a fever again, but I hope it's not too bad. I just didn't have anything to do the moments I felt better  
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